


Trying to Marry a Skittish Hunter Can be a Tricky Thing

by Bella_Monoxide



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 10:58:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4832873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bella_Monoxide/pseuds/Bella_Monoxide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl and Rick are engaged, but Rick's idea of how a wedding should be celebrated is dramatically different from Daryl's... Can he come to his senses in order to hold on to the love of his life, or is it too late already?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trying to Marry a Skittish Hunter Can be a Tricky Thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [demented_queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/demented_queen/gifts).



> I am really excited about this one. I got up today, sat down at my computer and typed it up after chatting with the lovely demented_queen, who gave me the idea for this one. Thank you, dear, this story is for you - because of reasons.

Rick was worried. He paced the floor in the living room of their shared house near the woods surrounding King County, feeling like he had already worn out the rug by then.

But it was not the fact that his boyfriend had bailed on their wedding that had him so worried.

On the contrary, Rick felt partly responsible for Daryl's flight, since he was the one who had insisted on it being a huge – well, big at least – affair, with all their friends and what little family they had between the two of them invited. But he knew full well that Daryl hated such happenings.

Hell, the skittish hunter did not even want a party in honor of his own birthday. Rick could not help but giggle as he thought back to January of that year, when Daryl had tried so hard to keep up the front of being happy about the party Rick had surprised him with.

But in the end, Daryl had begged him to not do that again. Of course, he only came out with that wish after Rick had prodded him about it for a long time.

Rick sighed deeply as he came to a, no doubt only temporary, halt in front of the huge window. He looked outside without really seeing the trees, hoping that Daryl would be home soon. Or else, all his planning would blow up in his face.

The former cop had all the time in the world, that much was true. But his feelings were a whole different matter, and Rick felt like getting married, and soon. In fact, he would have preferred to already be married to Daryl.

He could not help it, he just was that kind of guy. After all, he had been married to his first love Lori as well, though that felt weird in hindsight. Even their son, Carl, had asked Rick when he and Daryl would get a licence, now that it was legal everywhere for two dudes to tie the knot.

Carl. Smiling, Rick thought back to how eager his son had been about it, and he felt very lucky that Daryl and Carl had hit it off with each other the first time they met.

Then they decided to sit down with Carl to tell him that they were more than just friends, somewhat fearing his reaction.

Quite unsurprising though, Carl had only rolled his eyes in perfect teenager manner, and asked them to tell him something he did not know already. When asked about his reaction, Carl had given them another typical one, saying "Please. You two are so into each other, it's embarrassing!"

Then, after a moment, Carl blushed and cast his eyes down. "And you are loud. You know, at night?" He asked hesitantly, almost as if hoping that they would try to tell him that they did not have sex, contrary to what he thought he had heard.

That had been Daryl and Rick's turn to blush – a lot, on Daryl's part.

But Rick had been real proud of Daryl that day, since the hunter, even though he was obviously embarrassed beyond belief, had taken Carl out into the woods to have a man on man talk, from which they both returned with the bond between them being even tighter than before.

And, of course, a lot of squirrels that so happened to cross their path. Rick shook his head when he saw them return, thinking that he could have done without the squirrels for once, safe for emergency situations where food was thin.

Like what, Rick thought to himself, amused. The apocalypse? Preferably with a dash of zombies, like in those terrible games Carl liked to play with Daryl, who kept on losing to the teenager but stubbornly stuck with playing them nevertheless?

Shaking his head, Rick began to pace anew, thinking about how much his life had changed in the course of a year. But out of all the things that happened, one incident stuck out the most. Lori had gotten pregnant again, and almost died giving birth.

Only because the young – and foulmouthed – midwife had insisted on overruling the gynaecologist to do an emergency C-section, both Lori and her little girl, Judith, had lived to see another day. The father of Judith, Rick's former partner on the force, Shane, had a breakdown in the hospital, and Rick had been there for him.

Which, oddly enough, had left Daryl the only person to hold the little girl after she was born, screaming her little lungs out – until she was cradled safely in the hunter's arms. Rick had talked to Tara, the midwife, afterwards, and she had told him how Judith had reacted to Daryl.

After Judith was born, the ties between him and Daryl on the one side, with Shane and Lori on the other had strengthened a lot, and now they had a great family between them. Judith stayed with him and Daryl most times Carl was over, so that Shane and Lori could have some alone time.

And to this day, with Judith being months old already, the bond between her and Daryl had not lessen. On the contrary, it got stronger every day, it seemed, up to a point where Rick felt glad to know that Daryl never had any interest in women at all, or else he might have been suspicious of Judith's father being his own fiancé instead of his former co-worker.

And even though Daryl was the tougher parent, so to speak, that did not seem to tarnish the bond between him and Carl, something Rick was eternally grateful for. The hunter was still being rather sweet with Judith, but Rick had no doubts whatsoever that it would change as soon as she could talk and reach things.

Laughing out loud, Rick tried to imagine a teenage Judith, waiting for her date to take her to prom, and the sudden image of a fierce looking Daryl, his precious crossbow slung over his shoulder, pacing their front porch, popped up in his mind.

He would scare most teenage boys away, Rick thought, still laughing. And it would take a rather determined one to face off with Daryl – and pass the inspection. Then again, Rick continued his train of thought, that was not neccessarily a bad thing. Judith did deserve the best, he agreed with Daryl wholeheartedly on that.

The sound of Daryl's second most priced possession, his, in Rick's opinion, too loud motorcycle, stopped his thoughts, and he rushed to the front door and out on the porch to be there when Daryl finally stepped on it again.

He had spent the last four days god knows where after he had bolted from yet another discussion over their – well, Rick's – wedding plans, and left to be alone.

Rick had been beyond upset, thinking that Daryl might have left him for good, and it had taken Lori and Shane a long time to calm him down somewhat. Then, Carl had barged into the Walsh family room, shaking his cell phone in Rick's face.

"What's wrong with your phone, dad? Daryl tried to call you, but he can't get through!" Rick looked at Carl with a dumbfounded expression on his face, as the teenager rolled his eyes. In the end, Shane had taken the phone and talked to Daryl for a moment, until Rick felt stable enough to speak.

Since then, they had been talking a lot, as Daryl had called him at least twice a day to reassure Rick and himself that they were still in love with each other. He had needed some time alone, but Daryl had told Rick the night before that he would return the next day around noon.

Apparently, Daryl had a tough time being away from his boyfriend as much as Rick did, their ensuing phone sex being as much proof for that theory than anything. Rick giggled, thinking that Carl was right – they were loud.

It always surprised him all over again, how different Daryl was in the bedroom. Well. Or the livingroom, kitchen – and one other place, to which it was Rick's plan now to lure his beloved hunter.

As Daryl dismounted, Rick walked up to him, and Daryl stepped right into his spread arms, hugging him back just as tight. The hunter whispered into Rick's ear how much he had missed him, but Rick said the same thing then, and their remaining feelings of insecurity dissolved into laughter.

"What's with the backback?" Daryl asked, spying it on the front porch where Rick had left it – on purpose.

"Oh," Rick gave back with an air of innocence, "I was rather hoping you would accompany me to that little pond we found the other day, remember?" He added a look out of huge puppy dog eyes for good measure, to ensure that Daryl would tag along.

He knew that the hunter hated to be manipulated like that, but he could never resist him, either. "Come on, Rick," Daryl moaned, "I just got back home. Gimme a minute, a'ight?"

They both looked each other in the eyes, fully aware of the significance of what Daryl just said, but neither of them feeling like talking about it, afraid to destroy the still somewhat unstable float they had pulled their relationship back on during the last couple of days.

"Ok," Rick answered after a long moment, "you got a minute to pack your gear away and wash your hands, but then I wanna go. You with me?" He leaned forward and brushed his lips against Daryl's, testing the waters.

But Daryl seemed to be a step ahead of him, as he opened his lips to let Rick enter his mouth, and they kissed each other thoroughly, with Daryl's hands tied into Rick's curls, as they moaned into each other's mouth.

Rick pulled away reluctantly after a long time and admitted again how much he had missed Daryl. The hunter nodded. "I know, Rick. I missed you, too. So much. But I just can't do all that wedding stuff," it burst out of him, and Rick put his hand on Daryl's arm.

"I know, it's my own fault." He sighed. "Come on, Daryl, let's go for a hike, ok? We can talk later." Daryl nodded, grabbed his stuff, and went into the house while Rick sat down on the porch swing to wait for him.

He remembered how Carl had called it their 'sweetheart swing' once, and how much he had scolded him for it. But after he had returned from driving Carl over to Lori and Shane, he had found Daryl sitting in the swing, waiting for him.

And as soon as Rick had sat down next to his lover, he had quietly told him that he thought Carl had a point. When Rick had hung his head, Daryl had pulled him into his arms, Rick's head coming to a rest on Daryl's broad chest.

After a couple of minutes, Daryl had whispered that he had talked to Carl while Rick was driving back, and that they were good. Rick had looked up at him, amazed at how much the hunter had grown to be a great parent, even though Daryl refused to admit it, convinced that he would never be as good of a father as Rick was.

It made Rick sad that no matter how hard one tried, it appeared to be rather impossible to get entirely rid of one's past. Which made him feel even more glad that Daryl's only family member left on earth, his brother Merle, was not only ok with them being together in the first place, but had also agreed to be part of Rick's plans.

Merle had even agreed to do some of the organisational part of said plans, and Rick felt grateful. Checking the time, he noticed that the only thing that might still go south now was them not being on schedule.

But then he heard his boyfriends footsteps approaching, and he looked up to find Daryl standing in the doorway, a ripe peach in his hand, its sweet juice running down left and right of his mouth, staining what little beard was growing there.

Rick got up as he got a kleenex out, dabbed at the liquid on the hunter's chin and licked up the drops he did not catch with the tissue. Of course, that led to another bout of kissing, and both men did not mind one tiny bit.

Eventually though, they grabbed Rick's backpack and each other's hands and walked over into the woods, with Daryl making a stop at his bike to grab his crossbow and sling it over his shoulder on the way.

After some time, Daryl sighed audibly, and began to try and explain his actions, thinking that sooner or later they would have to talk about it anyway, but Rick interrupted him as soon as he knew what Daryl wanted to talk about.

"Daryl, don't. I love you, and all I need to know right now is if you still want to be my husband. Everything else can wait." He told the gaping hunter.

Daryl had expected an intirely different reaction from Rick, and it took him a while to process everything that happened since he got back home. Because that was what it felt like to him. Home. And not neccessarily the house they lived in, but Rick himself.

Rick was his home, and always would be.

While he was still trying to gather his courage to let Rick know about these revelations, the ex-cop had gotten more nervous by the second. Now he had reached a point where he could not take it anymore, and he came to a sudden stop.

Daryl looked bewildered, as Rick stood next to him, looking very much like he might begin to cry at any moment as he began to shake slightly. The hunter wrapped him up in his strong arms and held him tight.

"Rick, what's wrong?" He asked as he placed a kiss on top of Rick's curls. "Course I still wanna marry you!"

A shudder of relief ran through Rick's entire body at Daryl's confirmation of their engagement, and he sighed as he relaxed into Daryl's embrace.

"What took you so long to let me know that, then?" He mumbled into Daryl's chest, and the hunter laughed quietly.

"Only had some kind of epiphany, I guess," he mumbled under his breath, and before Rick could ask about that, Daryl had lifted his head up by his chin and planted his lips firmly on Rick's to kiss the ever living shit out of him, promptly making Rick forget everthing else.

When they finally reached the pond in the woods, Daryl had wanted to go into the small shed located near a dilapidating cabin, since they had used it when they first found the place, but Rick had other plans.

He sat down to get rid of both his shoes and socks, asking Daryl to do the same, so they could walk into the shallow part of the pond. When Daryl shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to Rick, untying the laces of his boots, Rick moved on to the next step in his plan.

As soon as they had stepped into the pond, he begged Daryl to demonstrate that special whistle he and his brother used when hunting together, and, wondering why on earth Rick would want to hear that one now, especially after asking him to demonstrate another significant whistle fifteen minutes ago when they were still some distance away, he complied.

As soon as he had done so though, Daryl got quite the surprise, as his brother strolled around the corner of the shed, his arm wrapped around Carl's shoulders, both of them followed by Dale, Daryl's boss at the garage both he and Merle worked at.

"Good thing you're here now, I was beginning to think that we'd have to wait until nightfall for y'all!" Merle boomed, as he let go of Carl to be able to wrap his brother up in his arms, as soon as he and Rick had gotten out of the water.

Daryl opened his mouth to ask some questions, but did not get the chance to do so, as Rick spoke first. "Dale, so glad you're here," he told him, shaking his hand.

"Rick," the mechanic replied, "of course I am here. How could I refuse such a request from my employee's fiancé?"

Rick smiled, and he bend down to pull a piece of paper out of his backpack. Daryl, still looking confused, asked the first question that came to his mind. "Why are you in a suit, Dale?"

"Well," his boss answered a little sheepishly, "you have to forgive an old man like myself for not being able to go all casual on such an occasion."

"But..." Daryl started, when Rick handed the paper over to Dale, who then asked them to stand next to each other in front of him, with Merle and Carl to their sides.

Suddenly smelling a rat, Daryl turned around to gape at Rick, only to find his boyfriend wearing a rather smug expression on his handsome face.

"Did you..?" Daryl started, only to interrupt himself and start anew. "Does this mean, um, are we... I mean, really?"

Carl burst out laughing, he just could not help it any longer, and everyone chuckled along, including Daryl himself. Rick took his hand. "After you took off, I had a lot of time to think. So I talked to Dale and Merle, asking them for help, and they both agreed."

Rick swallowed visibly before he continued. "Daryl, will you marry me here, barefoot, in the woods, with your brother and my son as witnesses?"

Lost for words, Daryl nodded, sqeezing Rick's hand.

Dale cleared his throat and began to follow the procedure, asking both Rick and Daryl to say their vows to each other. When the part about exchanging rings was next, Merle let out a whistle that was typical for a certain bird, common for the area.

Wondering why on earth he did that, Daryl leaned over to whisper into Rick's ear. "You know, I would have loved for..."

The rest of this sentence got lost in the giggle of Judith, who had appeared after the whistle, carried by a smiling Shane. He stepped to them, so that they could both cuddle her for a moment, and Judith sqealed with delight.

Daryl noticed a chain around her neck then, and he shook his head as he realised how inventive Rick had gotten to pull this wedding off.

The hunter handed Judith back over to Shane, so he could lift the chain from around her neck, as he needed the two rings attached to it.

He and Rick exchanged their rings and were allowed to kiss afterwards, and kiss they did – until Merle's loud wolf whistles caused them to separate, both of them blushing as they had gone a tad overboard with it.

That was the moment in which Daryl realised that there were no longer only seven people standing by the pond, but all their friends and family had stepped up to surround them, clapping and shouting congratulations.

The hunter blushed deeply, but this time more out of joy than embarrasment.

He and Rick accepted all the good wishes and talked to everyone in their party, as Merle took off to get the barbeque going, muttering under his breath that it would take forever to get everything ready since he was not able to light the fire earlier, so he would not give Rick's plans away.

Pretty soon, everyone walked around the cabin to help set up chairs and arrange the dishes provided by the guests on a makeshift buffet.

Rick and Daryl, both back in their shoes and socks by then, helped and laughed with the others, waiting for the deer Merle had caught for the occasion to cook through.

The celebrations went on well into the night, and much later, after most of the guests had left, Daryl and Rick said goodbye to Merle and Dale, thanking them for everything. Dale held up a finger to indicate that there was one more thing he wanted to say before he left.

They waited for him to speak, wondering what might be on his mind, as he smiled and announced that he would like to leave his precious RV for them to spend the night in, provided that Merle would still give him a lift as they had agreed on earlier.

Looking over, Daryl noticed that Rick was wearing an expression much like his own, which could only mean that Dale had come up with this idea by himself. While they still stood wondering, both Dale and Merle said goodbye once more and were gone before they knew it.

Suddenly alone in the woods again, Rick looked at Daryl. "So," he started, but found that he had to clear his throat before he was able to continue. "Are you ready..." But before he could finish, Daryl took over.

"...to consumate our marriage?" He asked in a husky tone. "Hell yeah!" And with that, Daryl stepped up close, grabbed ahold of a giggling Rick and lifted him up to carry him over to the RV as fast as his feet would carry him, fireman style.

**Author's Note:**

> If you read this, please consider to take the time and leave a comment, as it always makes me sad to see how many hits a story got, but only a fraction of those readers left feedback.  
> We writers need feedback, it is our life source in a way, so please, let me know your thoughts.


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